Name: Brian Cramer (Blue-Screen-of-Death) Pack Name: none yet Pack Totem: Kirin
Breed: Homid Auspice: Ahroun Tribe: Glass Walkers Camp: Random Interrupts
Rank: 2 Concept: Geek warrior
Strength 2 Charisma 4 (pitiable) Perception 3
Dexterity 3 Manipulation 2 Intelligence 4 (problem-solving)
Stamina 4 (inexhaustible) Appearance 2 Wits 3
Alertness 2 Crafts 3 Computer 4 (hacking)
Athletics 2 Drive 1 Enigmas 2
Brawl 3 Melee 3 Linguistics 1 (Japanese)
Dodge 3 Leadership 3 Occult 2
Primal-Urge 2 Stealth 2 Rituals 2
Survival 2 Science 2
Gifts: Persuasion, Razor Claws, Diagnostics, Control Simple Machine, Spirit Of The Fray, Jam Technology, Cybersenses
Rage 5 Gnosis
4 Willpower 6
Backgrounds: Kinfolk 2, Resources 1, Rites 2
Equipment: Cheap-ass rusty car (a 1988 brown Chevy sedan), piles of computer equipment in various states of repair (stored in his parents’ basement), laptop he built himself (don’t leave home without it!), vast collections of anime and cheesy horror movies, video games and consoles, and RPG-related crap, klaive
History: Brian Edward Cramer was born in the suburbs of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on March 3, 1985 to Chuck and Linda Cramer. He is an only child. His father is an architect. His mother was a homemaker for most of her life, but when her son entered high school she went back to work as a secretary to help pay for his anticipated college tuition. Brian’s early life was calm and normal. From an early age he showed a strong mechanical aptitude and would frequently cover the entire house with elaborate Lego and Tinker Toy constructions. His parents encouraged this interest with a never-ending supply of gadgets to take apart and raw materials to tinker with. When he was 6, they also gave him his first computer, thus beginning another of his lifelong interests.
Brian’s first major life crisis took place at age 8, when his father took a higher-paying job with a firm in Chicago. The transition was difficult for Brian, who left behind all of his friends and had to start again in a new neighborhood and school. For some reason, he had much more trouble fitting in there than he had in Philadelphia. The severe shyness which had plaged him ever since he was a baby came to the forefront of his personality. This, combined with his superior intelligence, glasses, and unusual interests (not many 8-year-olds are fascinated by physics, but Brian was), meant he was soon singled out as a “nerd” and “teacher’s pet.”
Brian would continue to suffer from teasing and bullying for the rest of his school career in the Chicago suburbs. The constant name-calling demolished his self-esteem in elementary school, and it only got worse in middle school. The harassment was only occasionally physical; the other kids learned early on that Brian had a quick temper and was more than willing to fight anyone who would give him the chance. What’s more, even though he was smaller than the rest of the boys, he was strong and fierce enough that he would usually win.
Toward the beginning of fifth grade, Brian got in the most trouble he’s ever been in. He got in a fight with one of his classmates and ended up beating him severely, giving him a broken nose and a concussion. Brian was suspended from school for a week and got a terrible lecture from his parents. But sensing that his son needed both an outlet for his pent-up aggressions and a way to get more structure and discipline in his life, Brian’s father signed him up for lessons at a nearby kung fu school. Although Brian grumbled about it at first, he soon grew to love his weekly classes and eventually advanced to the rank of brown belt.
Computers as well as martial arts sustained Brian through middle school. As computers, and Brian’s understanding of them, progressed well beyond the old Apple IIe that had been his first foray into the world of high technology, he soon began devoting every cent of his allowance and the money he got for mowing lawns in the summer to bigger, better, and more equipment. Soon he was building and improving his own computers with a skill that astonished his parents and teachers alike. At age 11, he discovered the Internet and soon immersed himself in the world of chat rooms, message boards, and Usenet newsgroups. At school, he was Brian, the quiet kid in the corner who read technical manuals during class and (the students whispered) would break your neck with a karate chop if you so much as looked at him; online, he was the mighty intellectual Blue-Screen-of-Death, who was universally respected for dispensing godlike computer tips and enlightened political commentary in the same breath.
The summer before Brian was going to enter high school, his father changed to a better job and his family moved again, this time to the Twin Cities area, and settled in a nice suburban home in Maplewood. Things became different for Brian when he started high school. For starters, he’d had several substantial growth spurts since the bullies first singled him out, but he no longer seemed such a tempting target now that he was several heads taller and considerably stronger than most of his tormentors. Plus, some of the self-confidence he had online had carried over into the real world, and he found it much easier to talk to and meet people. Finally, the social stratifications that had plagued him throughout middle school had relaxed in high school, making it easier for him to be himself and be accepted by students and teachers alike. Brian soon found himself carving out a niche among the geeky subculture of his high school, making friends who shared his interests and concerns and feeling happier than ever before.
About six months ago, however, things changed. One weekend, Brian was awake in the basement around 2 a.m., trying to install a new operating system on an old computer he had just finished updating. Something was wrong with the software, but he couldn’t figure out what, and he was getting more frustrated as the night wore on. Finally, he couldn’t take it anymore and directed what he thought was a weak punch at the computer screen. Unbelievably, the screen shattered against his fist—and when he looked at his hand in disbelief, not only were the cuts from the glass closing just as soon as they opened, fur seemed to be sprouting from the back of it and claws extending from his fingernails. Shaken, Brian decided to take a walk, but the night air only intensified his rage rather than calming it. When he passed a small wooded area, something inside him seemed to snap and he took off for the darkness of the trees—on all fours? It didn’t seem possible to him, but when he caught sight of his reflection in a drainage ditch, he could see that he had somehow transformed into a wolf. He knew he should have been terrified, but all his other emotions were overwhelmed by how good it felt to run through the woods tracking small game. That night he killed and ate a rabbit, three squirrels, and his neighbors’ toy poodle. It seemed so right at the time, but when he came to in the woods, naked in Homid form, he was frightened and disgusted by what he had become.
Fortunately, Brian’s fears were assuaged by the presence of Fatal-Error, a fellow Glass Walker from Minneapolis and a member of the nearby Sept of the Twin Rivers. They knew one another through a bulletin board they both frequented, and when Fatal-Error read one of the confused messages Brian left in the wake of his First Change, he knew he had to act. He tracked Brian down, explained his Garou heritage to him, taught him the Litany, and introduced him to the sept (though he has yet to undergo his Rite of Passage and become a full member).
Fatal-Error also helped Brian to understand how he could be Garou when there were none in his immediate family. Brian’s parents were Kinfolk—his father was a Glass Walker, and his mother was a Child of Gaia. Neither knew about their heritage because they had both been given up for adoption following the deaths of their Garou parents in battle against the Wyrm. Using the Internet, Fatal-Error helped put Brian in touch with some of the Kinfolk from his father’s side. Brian is now loosely acquainted with many of his long-lost relatives, some of whom live in the Twin Cities area.
Now, Brian is just beginning life as a fledgling Glass Walker Ahroun. He is eager to prove himself to the sept leaders who taught him so many things about himself and his heritage, but also apprehensive about his role as a weapon of Gaia. Like many young Garou, Brian is having trouble coming to terms with the established order and his predetermined place in it. Despite his training in the martial arts, he doesn’t see himself as a warrior and is somewhat frightened by the boundless reservoirs of rage he sees within himself. He doesn’t consider himself a violent person, and isn’t sure he wants to become one. The last thing Brian wants is to be seen as a coward, but when he finally looks the Wyrm in the face, he’s not sure that all the preparation in the world will make him ready to win the struggle against what he sees.
Personality: As previously stated, Brian is extremely shy and often seeming intimidated by himself and his own capabilities. He feels distinctly uncomfortable as a Garou, particularly with respect to his destiny as a veritable killing machine. He has never killed anyone before, and doesn’t feel particularly ready or eager to start; when he does, it will undoubtedly be a cause for major reflection and concern in his life. Secretly, Brian wishes he could have been born under one of the other auspices, but also realizes he can’t change his fate and is trying his best to accept it.
When Brian opens up to people, however, he rarely voices these doubts. It takes time and persistence to get to know Brian, but those who follow through will be rewarded with the loyal friendship of an intelligent, charming, and morally upright young man. Although he was not raised in a particularly religious background (his family went to church on Christmas and Easter, but that was about it), he has strong convictions about the need for good to triumph over evil and always wants to do the right thing in any situation. (More often than not, that proves to be destroying the Wyrm at all costs.) Faith in Gaia has given his life structure in much the same way that his kung fu classes did. Although his beliefs are somewhat naïvely simple, having never been truly tested, his devotion is admirable and has been noted by his sept leaders.
Brian likes nothing better than an in-depth, technical conversation about the ins and outs of computers. Lacking that sort of stimulation, however, he will turn to just about any other subject available and usually display at least a passing knowledge of it. Because he wants to impress people with the wide array of trivia he has collected, he can sometimes come off as a know-it-all, but this is due to his basic social ineptness rather than any feeling of superiority. Brian also loves video games, role-playing, and B-movies. A typical week for him consists of going to school, attending his kung fu class on Tuesday nights, playing D&D on Fridays, and spending the rest of his waking moments hanging out with his fellow geeks or tinkering with computers.
In many ways, Brian is like any other 16-year-old boy: worried about school and his grades, dependent upon his friends for validation and support, obsessed and mystified by girls. Also, despite the new array of secrets he must keep from them, Brian genuinely loves and respects his parents and would do anything to protect them. He wants nothing more than to be a good son to them and live up to their high expectations, and hopes someday to be able to explain the pressures that may someday prevent him from doing all that he could to reach those goals.
Appearance: Brian is very tall (6’5”) and somewhat heavyset (240 lbs.). He is not really at home in his body and often stands hunched over and staring at the ground. He shuffles his feet when he walks and moves as though he is afraid of his own large size. His hair is light brown and shaggy and frequently falls in front of his eyes. He wears a pair of large gold-rimmed glasses that are always sliding down the bridge of his nose; behind them, his eyes are blue. His voice is low and soft, his speech somewhat halting. Brian is an aspiring Goth but doesn’t have the knowledge or the nerve to really pull that look off. As it is, his wardrobe consists mainly of jeans, scuffed brown boots, a wide array of black T-shirts with sarcastic slogans and weird symbols, and a well-worn brown trenchcoat which he almost never takes off.